The modern smartphone is a wonder of modern technology, and in combination with the carrier network can allow you to make calls from the densest urban jungle to Mount Everest. But despite the amazing global coverage of the carrier networks, sometimes it just isn't enough.

Telstra has made a multimillion-dollar equity investment in Taiwanese video big data and analytics company Gorilla Technology Group, which will have its software integrated into the Australian telco's network.

At the WinHEC conference in China today, Microsoft showed off a new biometric authentication feature called Windows Hello. The ambitious technology, which uses fingerprint and iris recognition to replace passwords, will debut in Windows 10 devices later this year.